Ok, till a few months ago we were pretty set for vehicles..... 2013 F150 XLT, 5.0, 3.55 geared, 2wd.... 2002 Ford Excursion XLT, V10, 4:10 geared, 4wd. The F150 was the run around truck pulled the small 7x10 trailer with the lawnmower, rzr, ect when needed, the excursion was for hauling the 26ft enclosed trailer and work truck (pretty much).......

well long story short, we purchased a 2007 Ford Expedition from family for the kid hauler/errand runner ect. between the Expedition and the F150 the Excursion hasn't seen much usage or need.....

Well with the current rebates on the 2014's (was kind of waiting for the 2015's but might be a delay in their delivery to dealers) I was looking at maybe trading up the F150 2wd and adding in the Excursion for either a 2014 F150 4x4, or a Super Duty XLT.

Well my concern in the ability for a 2014 4x4 to pull a 26ft enclosed trailer 1 to 2x a year if we make a trip to an atv ride. the trailer is a 9900 GVWR (3600 curb, with the bench and cabinet it's about 3700ish). I've been doing the "build & Price" options for the F150 4x4 with either 3.55 or 3.73 gears. i've always been a "low geared" option guy, cause you might need that extra gear for towing. hadn't looked to hard at the dealers, but not sure if i'd need the 3.73's or if the 3.55's would suffice for an occasional towing of the enclosed trailer. I don't have much justification in going up to a Super Duty with a diesel.... would love the extra power, but reality is that i think an F150 would do the job when needed. Also to add, i do have a weight distribution hitch with the trailer for towing.

might drive by the dealer tomorrow to see what is on the lot and do some scouting..... but if anyone has a similar towing experience, chime in and let me know.

thanks.

 

You most definitely want a truck equipped with the Max Tow option which gets you 3.73 gears, a 7700 LB GVWR, extra cooling, etc. This set up will pull as well as the Ex.

 

depending on how many ATV's you are carrying, your expedition might pull it.

9900 gvw is the max weight of the trailer, but if you are loaded lighter than that then you may not need to worry about it much.

if you are hauling 6 ATV's you'll want the max tow
if you are hauling 4 ATV's, you'd be fine with 3.73's
hauling only 2 ATV's, and you could probably get away with a lincoln town car

maybe Tom will weigh in, he hauled a big enclosed trailer with his f150 before he traed up to a prius

 

That sounds like the start of a bad joke. I would laugh if I didn't know it was true.

Trading up from a 2013 to a 2014 isn't much of an upgrade, and it's also not cheap. If it was me, I'd either stick with the current situation, or wait until the 2015's are common on the dealer lots and the rebates start kicking in. That'll probably be spring 2015.

If I buy a new truck, I want it to "feel" new, and one model year newer isn't going to satisfy that. If you are like me, you'd buy a 2014, and then in eight months, you'll be itching for a 2015.

 

That one never gets old..lol

 

Those are some good suggestions! As far as the "upgrade", it was more to the effect of going from a 2wd to a 4wd F150. We have an almost 9K rebate in this area right now on the F150's and 5k on Super Duties.

also forgot to mention the 07 expedition is 4wd EL with 3.73's and the 5.4L. we hauled an inclosed motorcycle trailer with our touring HD to FL from LA over the summer and it did great (13-14mpg) with the bike, and a good bit of luggage as well.

and to be honest, i have not tried hauling the 26footer with the Expy yet. another friend said I was truck "poor" for options.... he said everything in the yard would haul that big trailer with that weight distribution hitch lol!

as far as what is hauled in the trailer.... right now it's only one rzr and one atv when we load everybody up for a day on the trails. if it's just me and the wife, i throw the rzr on the 7x10 trailer for the day and we head to the woods.

 

Like Tim said, go to a max tow, takes you from 7200 gvwr to 7700, you wont see 13-15 towing a large 26 ft enclosed trailer however, more like 8-10 depending on how heavy and how fast.

 

8-10 towing is about all the excursion would get anyway lol. I'm used to that kind of mileage. I'm sure the super duty would see a bit better, but only pulling that 26ft trailer a few times a year, don't see where I'd need a 250/350

 

I agree, as much as I want a superduty, I could not justify the extra expense that goes with those trucks as far as daily fuel mileage goes, the ecoboost tows very well and rides nicer anyhow.

 

The Super Duties are cool. I had a 2008 with the Max Tow package which I used to tow my car hauler, then I switched to a 2012 EcoBoost with the tow package. The only thing I miss are the towing mirrors. The truck has no problems pulling the trailer loaded with a car. Your trailer is longer than mine, so the extra stiffness of the Max Tow might be a nice upgrade.

 

well i looked a good bit of options today as far as the 4x4 F150's. threw down some numbers at a couple dealers.... guess we'll see which one comes closer..... or if not, hey, i ain't out nothing for shopping! keep rocking the 2wd and the excursion for a bit longer lol.